LARAMIE, WYO. » For the 11th time this season, the winless University of Hawaii football team played to a bitter end.
On this Saturday, it ended when Stuart Williams, a former walk-on and future architectural engineer, converted a 36-yard field goal in overtime in Wyoming’s 59-56 victory. "It’s unbelievable," Williams said, emerging from a mosh pit of teammates. "It was my first (game-winning) kick."
It ended with the Rainbow Warriors rolling up 624 yards, including 499 through the air, only to fall a yard short in their offensive portion of overtime.
And it ended with the temperature dropping into the low 20s, with the Warriors’ win-chill still at zero after falling to 0-11.
Asked if he could imagine his team scoring 56 points and not winning, UH coach Norm Chow struggled for words.
Later, he said: "It obviously wasn’t enough. We tell our kids: ‘Try to score one more point than they do.’ We couldn’t do it today."
UH’s Sean Schroeder threw for 499 yards and six touchdowns — both career highs — and Chris Gant had four scoring catches, not including the 2-point conversion with 1:18 remaining in regulation. None of that was enough.
"It’s the never-ending story of this season," Schroeder said. "It’s excruciating. It’s tough to sleep at night. It’s tough, but I’m proud to be part of this team and proud of the way we fight."
Fifteen minutes after the game, Gant was slumped against a wall, in no mood to celebrate becoming the fourth UH receiver to score four touchdowns in a game. (Chad Owens, Ryan Grice-Mullen and Jason Rivers were the first three.)
"I don’t care about the record," Gant said. "All I care about is one win. That’s all I care about. I’ll do what it takes. If it takes an arm, if it takes a leg, I’ll do what it takes to get that one win."
What the Warriors needed were more ways to slow down the Cowboys’ no-huddle, spread-’em-out offense. In their first 10 games, the Cowboys averaged a play every 19 seconds. On Saturday, the Cowboys produced five touchdown drives of 71 seconds or faster.
Quarterback Brett Smith was the itch the Warriors could not scratch. Smith was 29-for-48 for 498 yards and seven touchdowns. He also was the Cowboys’ leading rusher, gaining 142 yards and scoring on a 51-yard dash.
Chow described Smith as being "pretty dang-gone good."
Chow then asked reporters about Smith’s class standing. "Junior?" Chow said. "Oh, boy …"
The Warriors entered with a thinned defensive line. Nose tackle Moses Samia remained in Honolulu because of a high-ankle sprain. Defensive end Tavita Woodard, who is effective in setting the edge, did not play a down because of an ankle injury.
The Warriors went mostly with a 3-3-5 scheme to match the Cowboys’ spread attack. But Smith threw off the equation.
"He’s a hard guy to defend because he runs the football so well," Chow said.
Three times, the Cowboys aligned in a five-receiver set. The receivers were diversions, drawing away defenders, while Smith took off on counter runs. It was one of football’s oldest moves: Send people one way, while the ballcarrier goes the other.
"That kind of hurt us," UH defensive coordinator Thom Kaumeyer said.
And when the Warriors chased Smith, he bought enough time to find an open receiver. Robert Herron, who is capable of running 40 yards in sub-4.4 seconds, caught 11 passes for 141 yards, scoring on plays of 23, 47, 20 and 5 yards. Dominic Rufran caught seven passes for 121 yards. Jalen Claiborne and Keenan Montgomery each scored touchdowns, with Montgomery’s play covering 72 yards.
The Cowboys amassed 793 yards, with Smith having a hand — or leg — in 640 of them.
"We had a tough task, (and) I just didn’t get them ready to go," Kaumeyer said. "We started out slow. We made mistakes. That’s my fault. The second half, we kind of made some adjustments and kind of slowed them down. But we can’t give up that much in the first half."
Still, the Warriors were able to keep pace. It was 35-all at the half. The Warriors got key breaks when two of Scott Harding’s squib-punts touched Wyoming players, resulting in two turnovers.
The Warriors took their last lead, at 48-42, on tight end Clark Evans’ leaping catch. But Tyler Hadden’s ensuing point-after kick was low, striking a Cowboy.
The Cowboys went ahead 49-48 on Claiborne’s 71-yard scoring play, then padded the advantage on Herron’s fourth touchdown reception, with 2:52 to play.
The Warriors then drove to the Wyoming 33. Schroeder then hit Gant at the end of a post pattern to cut the deficit to 56-54.
"I knew they were going to come to me," Gant said. "I have to make plays when they expect it of me."
On the conversion play, Chow called for a re-route, in which Gant, aligned on the left, ran a post, then cut back to the outside. Schroeder found Gant to tie it at 56 and force extra play.
The Cowboys won the coin toss, and chose to defer their decision, allowing the Warriors to take the first possession from the 25.
Running back Joey Iosefa, who gained 341 yards in the past two games, carried four times, setting up a third-and-1 at the Wyoming 4. After a timeout, Jordan Stanton tackled Iosefa for no gain.
Chow did not hesitate in keeping his offense on the field.
"The way that Wyoming was obviously scoring points … we wanted to win the ball game (with a touchdown). … I have no qualms about going for it on fourth down."
Chow called for a play in which Marcus Langkilde served as the lead blocker and a lineman was required to hinge back to block a blitzer on the weak side. Langkilde blocked a defensive lineman and Iosefa got the ball, but linebacker Devyn Harris stormed in, untouched, for the tackle for no gain.
"It was all instinct," Harris said.
Iosefa said: "I got stopped. It was a good play."
Schroeder said it was the right call.
"Joey is a load," Schroeder said. "Give credit to them for making a good play."
Starting from the 25, the Cowboys rushed twice and then Smith passed 9 yards to Claiborne, setting up Williams’ winning kick.
"It was just like practice," Williams said of the kick.
It was the Warriors’ second consecutive overtime loss.
"Almost," Gant said. "We’ve had a lot of ‘almosts’ this year."
